


limbs are strong and heavy (leaves are all aglow)

by Anonymous



Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Alpha Peter B. Parker, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Miles Morales Needs a Hug, Omega Peni Parker, Omega Peter Benjamin Parker, Peni Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Benjamin Parker Needs a Hug, Platonic Cuddling, Protectiveness, Team as Family, but only briefly, platonic yall, they all need a hug lbr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-05 22:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17927375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Noir walked into that warehouse with one goal in mind - avenging Peni Parker's death.Turns out, he didn't really need to.The spider-team has a very scary week, and spends the night recovering.





	limbs are strong and heavy (leaves are all aglow)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Buckets_Of_Stars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buckets_Of_Stars/gifts), [noxes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/noxes/gifts).



> having some fun in the wonderful platonic a/b/o into the spiderverse sandbox that [keep-a-bucket-full-of-stars](keep-a-bucket-full-of-stars.tumblr.com) and [abyssal-glory](abyssal-glory.tumblr.com) have created and very kindly let me use
> 
> inspired by an ask about noir reacting to bad guys faking peni's death, which made me desperately want peni to have a tony stark style story where she saves herself via her super genius, and this scene kept bouncing around my head so here we are folks!

Noir can smell Peni.

Her scent, normally sweet and familiar, is bitter and sharp with pain, and fear. Blood.

He ignores it.

The same thing happened frequently, after Uncle Benjamin died.

He’d be walking in the street, sitting in class, out on patrol and then, for just a second, Ben’s familiar scent would knock Noir over like a pile of bricks. Like the alpha was standing right next to him.

But Peni was _dead_ , just like Ben, and he can’t allow grief to distract him from his revenge

(He _can’t,_ because then he hears Peni’s voice, high and frightened, remembers how  the sound of it made his stomach swoop. _“Guys? Can someone come over here, I think something is-,”_

And then, an explosion that shakes the ground and deafens him over the comm.

And knowing, even as he ran, that he was too late. _Again_.)

It occurs to him, as he feels his ribs crack under a brutal blow he hadn’t had time to dodge, that he might die here, tonight, in the freezing basement of this empty warehouse. The others are a few floors above him, too far away to get here in time.

Honestly, he’d be okay with that.

And it’s a cruel, selfish thing to do to the others, to Peter and Gwen and Miles, who are still raw with the loss of their youngest packmate, but Noir just- he is so, _so_ tired. Eating and breathing and _living_ when she had died scared and alone seems so bitterly unfair. So, if he dies doing this, avenging Peni, well- that would be alright.

He can sense another blow coming, but before it can land he’s- _pushed_. Shoved so hard that his feet leave the ground and he hears, more than feels, his impact into the far wall.

The blow leaves him dazed and useless, and the first thing he’s aware of when he comes to is furious yelling, and a blinding flash of light.

For a second, he assumes he’s dead.

(In his defense, he’s only trying to be realistic.)         

He blinks the spots in his vision away and looks around to see- a statue?

 _No_ , he realizes numbly, _not a statue. A mech_.

It’s nothing like SP//DER. Dull and gray, with make-shift weapons attached crudely to its arms, crumpled and twisted now from the blast.

(just like SP//DER had been when he got to that building, half-melted and _destroyed_ , and _god_ , was she in pain, in the end? Was it quick, or was she hurting and waiting and _hoping_ for her pack to save her, for _Noir_ to save her?)

There’s no glass protecting the pilot climbing out of it, who is stumbling, who is-

“Peni?”

He doesn’t run to her. Doesn’t so much as pull himself off the ground, because this- this isn’t real.

It _can’t_ be real, it’s a fucking- a grief induced hallucination, because that building was burned to the ground, it _exploded_ and Peni was inside, there’s no way, and she’s his _pup_ , his baby, he would have _known-_

But then, he’s never seen Peni like this before. Face bruised and bloodied, one hand clutching at the worst of the wounds on her side, other arm held awkwardly at an angle he can tell isn’t natural, eyes half-lidded, leaning heavily on the twisted arm of her mech for support.

If this is a hallucination, it sure is a shitty one.

He blinks once. Twice. She’s still there.

“Peni.” He repeats brokenly, loud enough for her to hear.

Her eyes fly up to meet his, wide with some emotion he can’t name. She starts towards him, but she’s unsteady on her feet, and has to shoot out her bad arm and grab onto the mech to keep from falling.

Her brow furrows, a bit of that familiar stubbornness in her eyes, and he rushes forward to stop her from moving again without thinking about it.

She manages a few steps in his direction, and he falls to his knees so they’re eye level. Reaches forward with shaking hands to gently, _gently_ cup her tiny face. Feel her precious pulse point beneath his fingers, the steady rise of her shoulders with every breath. And he can _smell_ her, scent bitter with blood and exhaustion and pain, but _there_ , undeniable proof that his pup was still alive.

“Noir?” Peni croaks. He doesn’t respond, just looks at her desperately, like she’ll disappear if he loses focus. She lets out a broken, _tired_ sob that makes his instincts rear up ferociously. _Hurt puppy hold protect keep safe KEEP SAFE._ “I- I wanna go home.”

She sways on her feet, and Noir comes to his senses just in time to catch her and cradle her close to his chest.

“Help,” He chokes into the comm, not taking his eyes off of Peni’s tiny, broken form, “I need help!”

_

He remembers the rest of that night in flashes.

Miles got to them first, reached forward to help, but Noir, half-feral with worry and disbelief, snarled at him, teeth bared, ready to rip the poor kid’s throat out.

That, of course, made B shove Miles behind him and snarl right back, all Alpha protectiveness and fury, and the only thing that kept Noir from tackling him to the ground was Gwen beating him to it.

“We don’t have fucking _time_ for this!” She’d barked in her pack leader’s face, voice watery and furious, “He’s _not_ gonna hurt Miles, and you going all alpha on him is only making it worse. Are you listening to me?”

She’d turned to Noir then, and her scent – alpha, yes, but also scared, and _young_ , and one of _his_ , one of his pups - cut through the worst of the haze over his brain.

“Noir,” She’d said shakily, head ducked in submission, “Peni’s hurt. Real bad. And we aren’t- we just wanna help her, okay? No one’s gonna hurt her or take her away from you. But we _have_ to get her help, or else-,” Her voice broke, and she blinked furiously, her scent sharpening with her distress. “We just have to get her help, okay?”

The next thing he remembers is being grateful that May is a beta.

He doesn’t remember how they got to B’s apartment, but they must have, because he looked up and saw May being pulled out of a portal by Miles, looking over at Peni with her face creased with worry.

He’d mostly calmed down, but then she told him he had to let go of Peni, put her down so she could look at her, _touch_ her, his wounded, vulnerable pup, and if an _alpha_ , even B, told him to do that when he was in that state-

Well. He’s just very glad that wasn’t the case.

He rested Peni’s head in his lap the whole time, hushing her gently when May disinfected her wounds, rubbed her back when wet, hacking coughs rack her tiny frame. He wiped her dirty, bloodied face with a cool rag, and even managed to pull himself away long enough to find one of B’s overly-large T-Shirts to replace her filthy uniform.

It seems to take forever, but eventually May brushed her hands off and declared she was finished. He’d wrapped Peni in his own coat then, and pulled her back into his lap, tucking her head under his chin protectively. B entered, slightly nervously, head ducked like Gwen’s was earlier, with both kids trailing behind him. They smelled like fear and worry and exhaustion, and it made Noir’s chest ache. After all, they loved Peni too.

“C’mon, pups,” He told them softly, gesturing them over with a nod, “She’s okay.”

They rushed over to the bed, Gwen getting there first with Miles on her heels. She laid a shaky hand carefully on Peni’s cheek, which made the omega stir and blink up at her sleepily. “Gwen?”

The alpha gave her a watery smile. “Hey, punk. Thought it was my turn to scare the shit out of everyone.”

“Nope.” Peni smacked her lips and nuzzled back into Noir’s shoulder, only half awake. “Y’must’ve read the calendar wrong.”

Gwen let out something between a laugh and a sob, and gently ruffled Peni’s hair. “Brat.” She bit back fondly.

Miles didn’t say anything, just looked at Peni with watery, red-rimmed eyes, like she might disappear, and carefully reached forward to squeeze her hand.

He was the closest to her when she called for help, Noir remembered with a pang. He’d been the first one to get to the building, to find the wreckage of SP//DER. And the way he was looking at her – like he’d personally caused every injury she had – it broke the omega’s heart, and made him feel very, _very_ guilty for snarling at the pup earlier.

“Miles,” He said gently, trying to catch the young beta’s eye, “She’s okay.”

Miles didn’t look away from Peni, who had fallen back to sleep against Noir’s chest. “I wasn’t fast enough.”

Miles’s normally mild, familiar scent was bitter with pain, with _guilt_ , and Noir couldn’t keep back the snarl that came out of his mouth at the smell of it. “It is _not_ your fault,” He growled, low and dangerous. “Miles, _listen_ to me. The people who did this to her? The people who took her? _They’re_ the ones responsible for what happened, not you.”

Miles shook his head miserably. “But if I had gotten to that building faster, then maybe-“

“He’s right, pup.” B was perched carefully at the end of the bed, clearly trying to give Noir space while still being as close to Peni as possible. “There’s no way you could of known what was going to happen – none of us could. But she’s okay. She’s home now, she’s safe. That’s all that matters.”

Miles nodded hesitantly – he didn’t believe them, Noir could _tell_ , but he wanted to. And, well- that was a start.

The pups were adorably solemn as May went over Peni’s injuries and illness (a nasty cough from being kept in that fucking basement for so long, that Noir _really_ couldn’t let himself think about – the thought of his pup, his _baby_ , stuck down there hurt and freezing and _alone_ -), but by the time she’s packed up her bag and left them with strict instructions to give her an update tomorrow, the adrenaline had worn off.

Gwen leaned exhaustedly against Noir’s shoulder, and Miles leaned against her. It seemed that before Noir could blink, all three pups were asleep, leaving him alone with B, who remained perched on the other end of the bed the whole time, clearly wanting to give the other man space.

Noir was grateful for it, even as it made his stomach twist guiltily.

Because of course, B was their pack leader. His job is to keep his pack safe, and losing one of his pups, his _youngest_ pup, must have been devastating. And he loved Peni too, must have been half-crazed with worry being forced to sit outside and just _hope_ that she would be okay.

Noir cleared his throat awkwardly. “I’m sorry,” he said softly into the quiet of the guest room. “For, y’know. Earlier.”

In the dim light he could just make out B shrugging his shoulders. “Don’t worry about it. I get it.” He responded gruffly.

His eyes kept flitting back to Peni, like he was making sure she was still there. Noir could sympathize.

After a beat, he added, slightly stilted. “So am I. For uh. Yeah. Earlier.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Noir echoed softly.

They fell into a comfortable silence. B curled his legs up on the bed, and Noir wedged a pillow out from behind him to nudge in the alpha’s general direction. B grabbed the spare blankets from the foot of the bed and helped arranged them over the pups, as the arm not being used to support Peni had been claimed by Gwen as a pillow. There was an unspoken understanding that he would stay in the guestroom with the rest of them – normally he slept in his own bed but sometimes – sometimes he just needed the whole pack in one room, fed and resting and _safe_.

Noir understood that.

He listened to B’s breaths get deep and even and leaned back against the headboard, carefully pulling Peni closer. She didn’t wake, but burrowed further into his neck, closer to his scent marks. He pressed his face into her shaggy mop of hair.  She smelled like herself again, mixed with his own scent and B’s. It was a very old, traditional idea, but it still did wonders to help him relax – knowing she – and all the pups, were so clearly _protected._ He breathed deeply. All their scents were mingling, smelling distinctly like _home_ , and he felt something in his chest uncoil. He closed his eyes, focused on the rhythmic puffs of Peni’s breath against his neck, and closed his eyes.

For the first time since that building blew, Noir slept through the night.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos/comments are fic fuel and you're already down here soooo


End file.
